Amy had a thoughtful post about blogging and other social media for writers. She wrote

I hate the thought of the dutiful yet miserable blogger.

Which made me reflect on this blog, which I admittedly update infrequently. Is it a chore for me? Why do I do it?

Simply put, a blog is part of your online persona. It’s part of how people form impressions about what kind of person you are. Some one like me who is a) relatively unknown and b) consciously not linking my writing persona to other professional things I might be known for, doesn’t have a lot to lose by updating only once every 2 or 3 weeks. Getting more stories published will have a bigger short-term impact, so that’s where my focus is.

Blogging isn’t a chore, but given the choice between putting the finishing touches on a story or writing a new post, I tend toward the former. You could call it a high-importance but low-priority task.

Now, inherent in being a writer is getting published, which by definition exposes your name to a wider audience. The right balance is different for everyone, but a better-known author has more on the line in terms of online persona, because there is a wider circle of eyeballs seeking you out.

The final thing I’ll note is that Twitter tends to take a lot of wind out of the blogging sails. There’s lots of small notes like “I’m reading this awesome thing” and so on that one can quickly dash out in a 140-character message. Easier-to-use tools usually win.